KAMPALA, UGANDA: Ugandan Journalist and Human Rights Activist Agather Atuhaire is the winner of the EU Human Rights Defenders Award 2023.
The Award, which is now in its twelfth year recognises human rights defenders who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of human rights in their community over the past twelve months.
Speaking at the awards ceremony on Thursday afternoon in Kampala, The Netherlands Ambassador to Uganda Karin Boven said “Agather is a good example of the role an independent journalist can play in the fight against impunity and corruption.”
Other finalists for the award included Solomon Sserwanjja, the executive director of the African Institute for Investigative Journalism (AIIJ) and Richard Lusimbo, the founder of Uganda Key Populations Consortium (UKPC).
The European Union Ambassador to Uganda, Jan Sadek said the winners of this annual award have been recognized for engaging in several works including documenting violations, seeking remedies for victims, providing legal, psychological, and medical support as well as combating cultures of impunity which serve to screen systematic and repeated breaches of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Sadek also congratulated the two finalists in the award category; Sserwanja and Lusimbo, for their efforts fighting for the rights of vulnerable and marginalised populations in Uganda.
“We applaud their work to shine a spotlight on abuses and support the rights of vulnerable and marginalised populations in Uganda,” he said.
Brief Profile
Agather Atuhaire, a freelance journalist and lawyer by training works with organisations that focus on governance and accountability and a range of media outlets.
In the past year, the soft-spoken journalist has used her human rights activism to highlight issues related to civic space, public accountability, misuse and mismanagement of public services and discrimination by public bodies.
Agather has over time predominantly and effectively used social media to break sensitive stories and has faced threats as a result of some of her reporting, particularly on stories covering Parliament.
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